A Song of Ice and Fire

1: A Game of Thrones
2: A Clash of Kings
3: A Storm of Swords

George R.R. Martin

There is much in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire that
follows the conventions of the fantasy genre, sometimes quite narrowly.
But Martin also offers much that is novel, as well as some twists on
familiar cliches, and his work stands head and shoulders above the mass
of multi-volume fantasy series.

The plot is complicated and convoluted and I don't want to give any
spoilers, so I won't attempt a real summary. Inhuman but humanoid
"Others" from the north are moving towards the ice Wall that protects
the kingdom of Westeros, but the kingdom has fragmented as different
claimants to the throne compete and no one has time to listen to warnings
about threats known only from old stories... Meanwhile, the last heir
to the fallen dynasty that had ruled Westeros for three hundred years —
and once knew how to breed dragons — is wandering the continent.

The fantastic elements have, in the series so far, been relatively
limited. Where many fantasy novels present an idealised "Middle Ages",
unrecognisable to the historian, Martin has clearly done some serious
reading. He also understands the limitations of history as a source
for fiction. His world is gritty, with rough edges, shades of grey,
and real world complexities.

The world of A Song of Ice and Fire is high medieval, with mounted
knights wearing plate armour, tourneys, feudal relations, and so forth.
It even has a vague geographical resemblance to Europe — Westeros is an
island in the north-west with a Wall resembling Hadrian's, there's a river
"Rhoyne", and so forth. There are no simple correspondences, however,
and other parts of the world draw more on the ancient Mediterranean and
Asia — we have a butcher named Cleon who rises to a position of power,
nomads sweeping across the plains, and so forth.

As in many fantasy novels, much of the interest comes from the battles
and campaigns. Here Martin conveys something of the messiness and
unpleasantness of medieval warfare: large battles are a hideous mess,
with little control by leaders, while small-scale raids and skirmishes
are continuous. Feuds, rapes, mutilations, betrayals, and casual
slaughter are normal. (Anyone who thinks this is unrealistic should
read something about the career of Simon de Montfort, or some of the
less savoury popes.) While almost all his central characters are from
the ruling elite, Martin conveys something of the effects of war on
ordinary people and certainly does nothing to glamourise it. And the
political machinations are similarly compelling.

Not everything is so convincing, however. Westeros sports a hodge-podge
of different religions, the mix of which doesn't seem sociologically
plausible. And the religious beliefs and practices of individuals aren't
always psychologically convincing. But this is a common problem faced
by fantasists using medieval settings from which the Catholic Church
has been excised.

The presence of magic and prophecy is well handled: Martin avoids
pointless explanations of the unexplainable, but there is an internal
logic to the forces at work, which aren't just arbitrary. These are,
however, inevitably less coherent than those elements with a medieval
reality to draw on, and here the very convincingness of the rest of
Martin's creation makes them stand out. Some of the fantastic elements
are potentially awkward, while the events outside Westeros seem more
fantastic (though this perhaps reflects the perception of the Orient in
Britain in the medieval period).

This background is never dumped on the reader in expository passages,
however, but appears naturally out of the story. And, world-building
concerns aside, A Song of Ice and Fire is a rattling good yarn, with
a complex interwoven plot sporting some elements of mystery and plenty
of surprises. It also has an involving and appealing set of characters.

Many of Martin's central protagonists are children or teenagers, some
of whom seem almost designed to appeal to different groups of readers.
In an early scene the Stark family, from the northern lordship closest
to the Wall, comes across a dead direwolf, whose six wolf pups are
adopted by the children. These children provide four of the (so far)
enduring "points of view" of the series. They include a warrior leader,
a bastard son who becomes a fighter and a leader, a cripple who acquires
shaman-like powers, a young tomboy who finds herself in the underworld
of assassins and mercenaries, and a "princess" who has to understand
the power struggles of marriages and alliances to survive.

But A Song of Ice and Fire is written for adults, not children.
Martin moves the point of view around between over a dozen characters,
introducing new ones as the series progresses, and there are some real
surprises. Switches in perspective make figures who had previously seemed
highly unpleasant appear in a new light. And several times a character
is introduced and given enough flesh and form that we feel we know them,
only to die suddenly, often brutally. There's no shying away from the
presence of death.

Some people have complained about the explicit sex in A Song of Ice and
Fire, but it's actually fairly tame and never gratuitous. Many of the
characters are shaped by confusions over their sexuality and sex plays
a central role in the plot: one young king marries unwisely, bringing
ruin upon his family; another is a misogynistic sadist; an otherwise
calculating schemer nurses a passion from his youth; and so forth.

A Song of Ice and Fire is unfinished, with three volumes of a planned
six out so far. It is already a notable addition to the body of fantasy
literature, but its long-term standing will depend on how Martin brings
it to a conclusion.

The plot and its threads have to be resolved in a way that is narratively
satisfying but not contrived or facile, leaving a world which remains
complex and ambiguous. The maturing of the protagonists, especially the
juvenile ones, may be a challenge. And the fantastic elements that so
far have been on the fringes of the world — most notably Others and
dragons — are moving towards centre stage, where it will be harder
to hide problems with their construction. Hopefully they will remain
within the outlines drawn so far, without invocations of new powers or
a weakening of the stark realism of the series so far.

We will have to see. The fourth volume, A Feast for Crows, is finally
out now, five years after the third volume, but hopefully volumes five
and six will be quicker upon its heels. Newcomers really should hang
on till the series is complete before starting it — I normally avoid
unfinished series myself — but feel free to join us in the wait.